How EGBC's academic exams work

Nivaar Exam Prep · Last checked 3 October 2026

If Engineers and Geoscientists BC (EGBC) assesses your degree and finds gaps, it may assign you academic exams, also called technical exams. This guide covers how they work, from the assignment to your results. Every rule here comes from EGBC's own documents, listed at the end. Rules change between sessions, so check the current session's page before you rely on a detail.

Who writes them

EGBC assigns specific exams after a detailed assessment of your academics. Do not register for an exam it has not assigned to you. The exams either confirm your knowledge of your discipline or make up for gaps in your academic qualifications, and the regulations describe two kinds:

• Confirmatory exams are a standard set that confirms your knowledge of your discipline. A university course cannot replace them. An engineering graduate may instead pass the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam in their discipline, which has no limit on attempts.
• Non-confirmatory exams are specific topics assigned to cover gaps found in your assessment. With EGBC's approval in advance, a university course can replace one of them.

Engineering applicants with at least five years of experience who are assigned confirmatory exams, and geoscience applicants with at least seven years, may be considered for a waiver based on that experience, decided through an interview. If you take the exam route instead and fail an exam, you cannot switch back to the waiver route.

Deadlines and time limits

• You do not have to write all your assigned exams in one session, but you must finish them by the deadline in your assignment letter.
• The regulations give you 7 years from the assignment. After that the application is deactivated and you need a new one, though exams you passed keep their credit. EGBC considers extension requests case by case if you ask before the deadline.
• Each session has a registration deadline, and late applications are not accepted. The next deadline EGBC lists is 31 January 2027, for the Spring/Summer 2027 session.

Sessions and format

• There are two sessions a year, spring/summer and fall. The exact dates move from session to session; EGBC posts each session's schedule on its Status of Online Academic Exams page.
• The exams are online and proctored by video. The exam runs on AssessBank, and eProctor Canada supplies the proctor. You need a desktop or laptop with a webcam and microphone, a stable connection and a private room where you are alone. A tablet or phone cannot be used for the exam itself.
• Most exams last three hours.
• Most exams need hand-written solutions. When you finish, you scan them and upload a single PDF of 80 MB or less within 30 minutes. EGBC recommends practising the scan beforehand.
• On the day, log in to eProctor at least 30 minutes before your start time.

Open book, closed book and calculators

Each exam is either open book or closed book, and the session's Exam Formats and List of Aids says which. If nothing tells you an exam is open book, treat it as closed book.

• Open book means printed books and notes only. Digital copies, and anything that needs a device, are not allowed.
• Closed book means no aids beyond writing instruments, blank paper and whatever the List of Aids allows. Some closed-book exams allow one hand-written 8.5" × 11" aid sheet, written on both sides; the List of Aids says which, and any conditions.
• Calculators come in two formats. Format 1 allows no calculator. Format 2 allows any non-communicating, non-programmable calculator. A calculator that does not meet the rule is not allowed, and you write without one.

What to study

Each exam is set from an EGBC syllabus. Basic Studies and Complementary Studies have syllabi common to all disciplines; the other exams follow the syllabus for your discipline. A syllabus describes the topics on your exam and recommends textbooks for each one; you may use other textbooks too.

The papers EGBC still publishes are from before 2020.

Passing, results and re-reads

• The pass mark for most exams is 50%.
• Results come about 8 weeks after the exam, through your EGBC account. They are not given by phone.
• You can apply for a re-read within 30 days of your result. The fee is charged whatever the outcome, and the re-read mark replaces the first one. Papers marked between 45% and 49% have already been re-read once.

Failing, rewriting and deferring

• A failed confirmatory exam is cleared by passing it at a later sitting, and you may write your other assigned exams first. Failing the same confirmatory exam three times ends the confirmatory route, unless EGBC accepts a good reason for an exception.
• A non-confirmatory exam may be attempted at most three times, with the same exception.
• You can defer an exam to a later session online, in EGBC's Exam Registration portal. For the Spring/Summer 2027 session, deferral is free up to 31 January 2027, and no changes are allowed after that date. EGBC sets the deferral rules for each session, so check them for yours.
• If you do not show up, the exam fee is lost. If you open the exam in AssessBank, it counts as a failed attempt with a score of zero, even if you stop there.

What you must not share

Exam content is confidential, and that includes your own solutions and rough work. EGBC warns that sharing it, or trying to, may affect your application for registration.

Sources

All checked on 3 October 2026. EGBC updates these documents between sessions; the most recent version on its site always wins over this page.

• EGBC, Academic Examinations
• EGBC, Academic Exam Regulations (revision of 21 October 2024)
• EGBC, Status of Online Academic Exams
• EGBC, Exam Schedule, Formats and List of Aids (Fall 2026)
• EGBC, Written Solutions Guide
• EGBC, Academic Exam Deferrals for Spring/Summer 2027 (updated 24 September 2026)
• EGBC, Engineering Syllabus
• EGBC, Past Academic Exams